


Darkest Night

by Sakura_no_Umi



Series: Related verse [8]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hawkmoth Defeat, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:48:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25264108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakura_no_Umi/pseuds/Sakura_no_Umi
Summary: His father screaming he did all of this for him, only made everything he had to do ten times worse. The Papillion confrontation.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Félix (PV), Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Related verse [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820368
Comments: 4
Kudos: 89





	Darkest Night

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on 4/3/2018. This one is pretty heavy emotions wise so tread lightly if you need to.

“I’m doing this for my son,” Papillion screamed, locked in a tussle with Ladybug desperately trying to hold on to the last of his powers.

Those words had frozen Adrien, frozen Chat Noir in his place, eyes widening at the burden suddenly placed on his shoulder. His classmates emotions toyed with because of him. His lady risking her life every day because of him. He hadn’t asked for this, for any of this, but his father was crusading in his name so didn’t that make it his fault? What had he done wrong to cause all of this?

“What?” Chat Noir had choked out, positive he was given his identity away, but this was stressful enough as it was, and he just couldn’t add another level of insanity onto this. How could someone who couldn’t make time in his life for his own child be terrorizing the city of Paris for that same child. Unless he was wrong. Unless this was about Felix. Then maybe just maybe the burden of all of this wouldn’t fall directly on his shoulders

“Which one?” Ladybug had asked, eyes briefly sliding over to her partner.

“For Adrien. I’m going to bring back his mother so we can be a family again. Felix never cared that she passed.”

Adrien wanted to scream at him that it wasn’t his mothers fault they weren’t a family, that he didn’t want this, not like this, and that he was pretty sure no one even bothered to tell Felix in the first place, but Chat Noir remained quiet. He was barely holding onto his identity, maybe it had already been outed, but he needed so desperately to pretend that everything wasn’t ending right before his eyes.

“Does he even know?” Ladybug asked, despite knowing perfectly well the answer, “Did you even ask him if this is what he wanted.”

“Of course he wants her back,” Papillion snarled, strength surging back into him tossing Ladybug to the side as he caught her off guard like she weighed nothing, “and that can’t happen until I get both of your miraculouses.”

“Someone else has to die for her to come back. That’s the price of this power,” Ladybug argued, pushing herself back up as Chat Noir watched frozen.

“That’s of no consequence.”

“You don’t get to chose the life. What if its Adrien’s?”

Papillion froze, and the blood drained from Chat Noir’s face his stomach turning at the suggestion.

“Then I’ll simply bring him back as well. As long as I possess both I can grant as many wishes as I want.”

“And what if the gods who control these powers say you can only have one. Each wish you make for one trades the life of the other in a vicious cycle. But say it does work out perfectly, and some innocent dies for your dream. Do you really think either of them would forgive you for the price that was paid? Do you think this is really what you wife wants? I’m sorry, M. Agreste, but you will never be the family you once were, so please stop pushing away the family you have left. Just end this while Adrien can still forgive you,” Ladybug coaxed, approaching Papillion slowly.

Chat Noir had to fight to keep the bitter laugh from escaping his throat. He wasn’t sure he could ever forgive his father.

Papillion spent a moment tussling with Ladybugs speech daring it not to be right. His hand grasped firmly to his cane as if contemplating if he could get a swipe at the hero’s knees while she was still unaware. After a tense moment passed, Ladybug still appealing to his compassionate side, the side hidden completely away from a world, his hand removed his broach while looking upon Ladybug with absolute murder as he passed it over to her outstretched hand. Papillion was no more, only Gabriel Agreste remained, seething over the implications of Ladybugs words.

“Get out,” he commanded, “You’ve won your stupid game, not get out of my house, and don’t breathe a word to anybody, especially not Adrien.”

With courage he didn’t know he still possessed Chat Noir spoke up, “I can’t promise Adrien won’t find out.” before turning on his heels and walking out.

The doors slammed shut as Gabriel Agreste's grief and anguish filled the room. Screams for what he had already lost, and the implication of what he would continue to lose. Tears for the love of his life he would never get back, could never hold again on this mortal world. No matter how hard he fought, no matter how hard he tried he was still unable to escape the line in his wedding vows 'until death do us part'. As for his sons, he'd killed them in his own twisted way. In the pit of his stomach, he knew they would never walk through those doors again and greet him with love or happiness.

Outside the room, Chat Noir fell to his knees unable to keep moving forward, unable to fight the cold dead feeling slowly consuming him. Unable to close his ears to the sounds the doors couldn't completely mute. It was muffled, but still audible, still tangible in the hallway.

“Chat Noir, I’m sorry,” Ladybug spoke slowly pulling him to his feet and ducking under his arm to support him, “I know there is so much you’re going through right now, but you can’t stay here. Only anger and resentment will consume you here, and you’ll never be able to start the process towards healing.”

“It’s all my fault,” he replied, not fighting her, letting her lead them out of his house with both transformations breaking from sheer mental and emotional exhaustion, and to prevent any scandal if Ladybug and Chat Noir were spotted leaving the Agreste Mansion. They hoped to keep this all under wraps. The world didn't need to know what had happened here today. They only needed to notice that one day Papillion's reign of terror just seemed to stop. They didn't want to celebrate or be memorialized for the events of today. They wanted to move on, to forget, to heal.

“Don’t say that Adrien,” Marinette replied, her eyes lighting up with that fire they had when she sensed an injustice. “You didn’t know why he was doing this, and you certainly didn’t ask him too. He was still grieving, and he wasn’t grieving healthily either still stuck in the stage of denial.”

“Is it bad part of me wished he succeeded?” Adrien asked quietly, head turned away.

Marinette’s eyes softened, “No. You miss her and you love her a lot. No one ever really fully recovers from a loss of a loved one. There will always be that absence.”

“I just wanted to say goodbye.”

“We can’t. Not with our powers, not even for something so simple and pure. I’m sorry Adrien. I’m sorry about everything, but you still have some family left if you’ll let him.”

“I don’t think I can ever forgive him for what he’s done.”

“I’m talking about someone else,” she replied, simply pushing open the doors of the mansion where the cloudy gray dreariness met them as if Paris was ready to mourn at any moment the emotional cost the battle had taken on her heroes. On the steps stood Felix, his normally stoic expression gone and instead replaced with sheer worry at the defeated exhausted expression of his brothers. She passed Adrien off to him before he could protest. As much as he wanted to yell at Felix for leaving and never returning, his arms wrapped themselves around his brother against his own accord, and the tears he had been holding in since Ladybug confronted him about everything finally began to fall.

“He’ll be fine, Marinette, I’m never leaving him alone again,” Felix spoke, as a hesitant but exhausted Marinette was ushered away by Bridgette who mouthed ‘call me if you need anything’.

The girls footsteps faded away as the skies contributed their own sorrow though the sprinkles beginning to fall. Felix looked on with hard eyes at the house that managed to hold so many painful memories, while still being able to be filled with joy. Adrien’s sobs began to muffle as he remembered what the feeling of a home was for the first time since his mother had passed on, and M. Agreste stood hidden in the shadows looking out at the two sons he had lost knowing none of them would ever return to this house. The joy that had filled its hallways had left the day his wife passed away, and he had no one to blame but himself.


End file.
